Katelyn’s blog post yesterday perfectly previewed the month of June, which is full of celebrations!
I just happened to get a couple of blog-worthy videos of twin-birthday-chimpanzees Negra and Terry and thought I would combine them into one post (not to overlook Dora and Honey B’s special days coming up even sooner).
I have also been thinking about all that goes into caregiving lately, and how it is easy to forget the thousands of ways that we can and do contribute to the well being of those in our care. So, I asked the volunteers and staff yesterday to think about a moment in their day that stood out or an overall observation of how they helped fulfill the mission of the sanctuary and to write it down for me.
The themes that emerged were: contributing to a larger team effort, being a positive influence and presence for others (humans and chimpanzees), providing the chimps with comfort (like making sure the chimps have clean blankets), and doing something extra for an individual chimpanzee (for example, making Burrito belly laugh at breakfast or putting together special “surprise box” enrichment for George).
I loved learning what caregivers noticed about the important ways they contributed to the sanctuary in a given day.
What really got me thinking about all of this was watching Negra react to Elizabeth, as captured in the video.
At the time, Elizabeth didn’t know I was above watching (and filming) thinking to myself, “how incredibly lovely is it that Negra has friends like Elizabeth who will dance for her?!”
And how lovely it is that the sanctuary has you all reading this and watching the video?! ❤️
